The Trafford Centre's decor does have a weird, unique charm in my eyes. It made more sense, bizarrely, the first time visiting after having been to the Vatican, after which the 'art' made much more sense.
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Trafford Centre threatened with closure; could the Metrolink line be a white elephant?
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The Trafford Centre's decor does have a weird, unique charm in my eyes. It made more sense, bizarrely, the first time visiting after having been to the Vatican, after which the 'art' made much more sense.
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C J Snarzell
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I do think that on a cold wet dismal wintery day - the interior of the Trafford Centre is quite therapeutic. There is always plenty of light and the tropical plants and waterfalls add a touch of warm summery climes.
The big turn off for me is the volume of people who descend on the place. I remember a former colleague of mine once telling me he made the mistake of visiting the TC just prior to Christmas one year. It took him three hours to get out of the car park onto the slip road of the M60.
CJ
The big turn off for me is the volume of people who descend on the place. I remember a former colleague of mine once telling me he made the mistake of visiting the TC just prior to Christmas one year. It took him three hours to get out of the car park onto the slip road of the M60.
CJ
I'm quite partial to it when it's gone dark. Bright and warm inside, but you can see the dark sky through the roof.
LeylandLen
Member
Yes during Euro 96,I heard the bang ..
ValleyLines142
Established Member
Caught the tram to the Trafford Centre on Wednesday. Have to confess it really wasn't busy at all - current PVR is 5 at the moment on the line, all single trams, and more than adequate space! Tried to do a quick head count as I was passing trams in the other directions - at best I could probably count maybe ten people? It is a bit worrying.
What was concerning was that an X50 pulled up alongside the stop and it let off a fair few passengers! Not sure whether this is down to the fact that people may live elsewhere and have weekly tickets for the bus, but it didn't look promising.
What I think is the issue, is that the line only runs to Cornbrook at the moment, yet trams are running dead from Cornbrook to the island platform at Deansgate, so quite why they can't extend them in service to Deansgate is beyond me. I know they did this with the Airport Line, which of course now reaches Victoria, but I feel they could extend it onto Deansgate.
What was concerning was that an X50 pulled up alongside the stop and it let off a fair few passengers! Not sure whether this is down to the fact that people may live elsewhere and have weekly tickets for the bus, but it didn't look promising.
What I think is the issue, is that the line only runs to Cornbrook at the moment, yet trams are running dead from Cornbrook to the island platform at Deansgate, so quite why they can't extend them in service to Deansgate is beyond me. I know they did this with the Airport Line, which of course now reaches Victoria, but I feel they could extend it onto Deansgate.
The X50 running directly to the city centre must be working in its favour.
That, and Metrolink still pushing the "essential travel only" message strongly.
ValleyLines142
Established Member
Most definitely was not the case on Wednesday. Trams weren't busy, but there were plenty of journeys still being made, some of which were evident that they were non-essential, e.g. groups of youths.
I'm not sure that there is passenger demand from Manchester City Centre to the Trafford Centre. If you're already in the centre of Manchester why not just shop/eat there?
I always thought Trafford Centre's customers were from further afield (around the Manchester orbital motorway) and the new tram line won't/ can't get them out of their cars.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
No, there's long been a frequent bus route (sometimes several) and considerable demand. Is that true of Meadowhall and other such centres in the UK, I wonder?
ValleyLines142
Established Member
To be honest, I much prefer the Trafford Centre, especially now that Primark is open. I think it's fantastic. Everything is all under one roof, you literally don't need to go outside. And the architecture is out of this world, I forget for a moment that I'm in Greater Manchester!
10% of the UK population live within a 45 minute drive of the TC.
In the city centre, the shops are all over the place. Primark and Debenhams are outside Market Street tram stop, others are in the Arndale (and the Arndale I still find very confusing, even though I've been there several times) and then there's Selfridges. Granted it's in a relatively small area, but it can be annoying having to navigate your way around.
If I drove, I would go to the Trafford Centre 100%. Sadly we don't have anything like that in my hometown of Cardiff. Nearest major out of town shopping centre is Cribbs Causeway but even then, it's not a patch on the Trafford Centre.
I note that one of the new tram stops appears to be a designated Park and Ride, so perhaps that will generate some traffic into town.
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